Smart Updater is a revolutionary application that can analyze two versions of the same file or directory and then create an update file that can be applied to several older versions. This results in a much smaller file that can be transferred over the network and applied to the older file versions thus making an exact replication of the new version! Smart Updater has the ability to compare two files or two directories, the original and the updated, and return only the bytes that have changed, thus creating an update file. The update file results in a significant reduction in the file size needed to update a file or directory. Due to the fact that Smart Updater can analyze files and directories at the byte level, it can update ANY type of file. Smart Updater has the ability to compare two directories recursively and update directories recursively. Smart Updater uses a process that is designed to be completely safe, applying the update only if no problems are encountered during the process. Because Smart Updater generates an update file, only a PC that has Smart Updater or Smart Update Client installed can apply the update file. This can help prevent against illegal distributions of updates.